Christopher Miller biography

Chris Miller remembers, as a kid, he was always the one drawing and creating little flip books. Today, he's turned that hobby into a successful career in animated films. He graduated from the California Institute of Arts and joined Dreamworks SKG in 1998.

The studio's fifth animated release, Shrek (2001), turned out to be that one big push Miller needed to set things into motion. He worked as a story artist for the movie, wrote additional dialogue, and also did the voices for the Magic Mirror and Gepetto characters in the film. For Shrek 2 in 2004, Miller again contributed to the dialogue and served as head of story during production, a role that allowed him to work between directors, producers, and the story department. He also voiced the Humphries character and, again, the Magic Mirror. When the time came to revive the story for a third sequel in 2007, Shrek the Third, Miller took on the role of writing the screenplay and co-directing the film, but also did the voices for the Puppet Master, Announcer, Mascot, and Singing Villain characters.

Miller had a hand in another popular set of Dreamworks' animated films. In 2005, the studio released Madagascar, in which he played the voice of Kowalski, the supremely intelligent penguin second in command to the colony. The film spawned a full-length sequel, Madagascar 2 (2005), and two shorts, The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005) and Merry Madagascar (2009).

Miller most recently directed the film Puss in Boots (2011), which is based on the popular character from the Shrek stories, and also did the voices for Boy Blue, Friar Miller, the prison guard, Manual, and Rafael in the film. He was scheduled to co-direct the upcoming Han Solo spin-off film, but left due to "creative differences."